Means for electric separation.



No. 743,710. PATENTED NOV: 10. 1903.

' E.-GATES. MEANS FOR ELECTRIC SEPAR T ON;

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 25. 1903.

UNITED STATES- Patented November 10, 1903.

PATENT Fries.

MEANS FOR ELECTRIC SEPARATIONQ sencrrrcnrron formingpart of LettersPatent No. 743,710, dated November 10, 1903. Application filed March 25.1903. Serial No. 149,548. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, ELMER GATES, of Chevy Chase, in the county ofMontgomery, State of Maryland, have invented acertain new and usefulMeans forElectric Separation, of which the following is a completespecification,reference being bad to the accompanying drawlogs.

The object of my invention is to produce improved means for practicingthe method described and claimed in my application Serial N0.141,O9O,filed January 30, 1903, whereby the operative area of the electrifiedbody or collecting member described therein is amplified and theefficient operation of the method augmented.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a side elevation, partly insection, of a portion of the apparatus for practicing electricseparation in accordance with my method described in the applicationabove referred to. Fig. II is a top plan view of the hopper andcollecting member shown in Fig. I.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings,

- 1 indicates a portion of the frame or case of a static electricmachine, which, as upon a bracket 2, projecting therefrom, supports oneof the terminals of the machine, of which, as is well understood in theart, there are always present two. The terminal is in general contour ofthe usual spherical shape, but is composed of a pair ofoppositely-disposed semispheres 3 and 4, united, as by studs 5, andseparated peripherally, so as to present an annular crevice 6 betweenthem. The members 3 and at, which are substantially and by preferencesemispheres, but not exactly so, owing to the presence between them ofthe crevice 6', are supported by a tube 7, whose open end opens into theinterior of the collecting member defined by the parts 3 and t and whoselower end 8 is closed. Communicating with the interior of the tube 7 isa branch pipe 9, whose end 10 dips into 2. vol ume of liquid 11,contained within a closed receptacle 12, from an air-space, within whichplication hereinbefore referred to onlyin respect to the construction ofthe collecting member, by which the annular crevice 6 is defined. Thecrevice 6 or opening into the collecting member is made'annular in orderto utilize the entirefield of energy, which is in practice generatedabout the collecting member on all sides, it being obvious that if themass to be separated be exhibited to the colat their lower ends a thinannular dischargeaperture 18, which serves by the action of gravity toexhibit to the collecting member a thin veil of material to be separatedof tubular shape. 19 indicates a spout by which the commingled mass ofmaterial to be separated is fed to the interior of the hopper defined bythe members 16 and 17. i I

It is obvious that inasmuch as my invention consists in exhibitingmaterial to be separated in a cylindrical or tubular veil to acollecting member provided with an annular crevice to receive theattractable particles drawn from the mass by the electrical attractionof the collecting member it would be practicable to transpose therelative positions of the veil of material and the collecting memberin'other words, to surround the veil of material to be separated by thecollecting member instead of surrounding the collect ing member by theveil. This, however, isa mere formal variation, and the preferredstructure of apparatus embodying the principle of my invention isdescribed and illustrated.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows:

Material to be separated being fed from the spout 19 in a loose orpulverulent mass slips through the opening 18 from the hopper in theform of a tubular veil disposed about the collecting member. That memberbeing properly electrified, the electrically-attractable particles aredrawn toward it. As they approach the collecting member they are caughtby a current of air produced by suction upon the pipe 13 and are drawnin through the crevice 6, tube 7, and pipe 9 into the liquid 11, Wherethey are held ready for convenient separation in any suitablemanner-such, for example, as distillation.

What I claim is 1. In apparatus for practicing electric separation thecombination of an electric terminal constituting a collecting member,provided with an annular crevice, means communicating with said crevicefor drawing into it electrically-attractable particles electricallyattracted toward the collecting member, and means for exhibiting to thecollecting member the mass to be separated in a thin tubular veil,whereby the entire field of attractive energy generated about thecollecting member is utilized.

ELME R, GATES.

Witnesses:

CHAS. E. RIORDAN, FRANK J. KENT.

